SIGNS OF THE INTELLECT AND THE FOOL
The following characters are the hallmark of the intellectual:
(a) if his status is elevated, he becomes humble and takes care of his people
(b) if someone insults him, he forgives with patience
(c) if he performs a good deed, he will not wait for anyone to thank him
(d) if someone causes him harm, he will find a way to protect himself and forgive the other
(e) his main character is to forgive and let go
(f) he leads others to goodness. The sight of him comforts you, sitting with him is a treasure, pleasure and elevation to you, and if you need him you will find that he will deliver
(g) his word is a constitution, and he will stand by it
(h) he renders advice conservatively
(i) when he is quiet, you gain from him, and when he talks, you gain from him. The more you talk with him, the more you value and the more you learn from him.
(j) the intellect talks very little, and keeps silent often. He will not engage in talk until someone asks him, and he talks accordingly with knowledge and wisdom.
In contrast the following are the signs of the fool:
(i) misleading to himself and others
(ii) if you get close to him, he becomes arrogant, and if you stay away from him, he gets upset and angry
(iii) if he talks, he will not fulfil his speech, and if he promises, he will not keep it
(iv) spending time with him is a disgrace
(v) arguing with him is a calamity
(vi) conversations with him leads you nowhere but cannot stop talking
(vii) his companionship will harm you.
(viii) the closer you get, the more it makes you blind. If you decide to have him as a spouse or a friend, welcome to never ending misery!
(ix) his speech is riddled with digressions, fabrications and contradictions
(x) he renders advice indiscriminately
(xi) the fool always wants to talk, and offers his opinions and conclusions regardless of his knowledge of the topic or audience. Astonishingly, he doesn’t realise he is a fool, but everyone else does. This is because he doesn’t have the time to listen, for he is too busy talking!
(xi) AFTER ALL THAT, HE WILL ALWAYS BE UPSET WITH YOU, BECAUSE HE BELIEVES HE MEANS WELL
One of the early kings, when displeased or upset with any of his court, would place the offender in jail with a fool, as a torture!
The fool always discredits others, blames and complains, dismissive and he assumes that he is always right. He expects everyone to thank him for his so called wisdom. Another hallmark is that if you meet the fool a year, or even ten years later, the foolishness would have increased. His stubbornness and ignorance are firmly entrenched in his personality.
The fool’s destruction knows no bounds. Every time you assume that some goodness will come from him, you will be let down and instead find more from the same fountain of ignorance: more arrogance, more wickedness and more drama.
One of the early scholars had something beautiful to say about that:
“You can save yourself from everything, and you can try to avoid everything that harms and hurts you, except the fool. He cannot protect himself from himself.”
The real legacy of this life is your intellect and wisdom, and the ultimate disgrace for a human being is his foolishness.
THE PERSON WITHIN
The early people used to say, that the tongue belies the person within. When he opens his mouth, his personality will be exposed.
Also be careful of the hidden fool, especially in the time of marriage. He pretends to be extremely polite, shy and quiet. Whatever you say, he will agree with meekly. He will nod and smile as if tongue tied. Remember, iman has many levels, intellect has many levels and foolishness has many levels. The hidden fool realises that he is not as smart as he portrays himself to be and therefore cloaks it in silence when it suits him. Therefore in such a situation, engage him in conversation to assess whether he is capable of any profound opinion.
If you ask a wise person about something he is unfamiliar with, he will admit that he does not have the correct knowledge. The intellect, if he has stated something wrongly, has the humbleness and humility to admit his mistakes and rectify them. The more mistakes a fool makes, the more he drags on with the same mistakes, because he will never admit he had erred.
The fool will believe he is intellectual and wise, this is he will never make an effort at self improvement. The intellectual and wise will always question and blame himself, reflect and try to gain knowledge by asking questions, consulting and accompanying elders who enhance and nourish his journey of knowledge and wisdom. On the contrary, the fool will always look for like minded people to boast, because he cannot tolerate the company of intelligent and wise persons.
This is why Rasulullah SAW advised that if you want to know who you are, look at the company you keep.
We will be resurrected on the Day of Judgment with our companions. While you cannot choose family, your companionship is of your own selection. On a related point, early people agreed that foolishness is a disease without a cure, because the fool (being unaware he is one) never seeks a cure, and this destroys the person dunia and akhirah.
When I was growing up, I was always advised to spend my time with elder and wise learned people and to avoid wasting time with foolish and empty people. Today as a people, I barely meet anyone looking for a good companionship from the elders to gain from them. Whereas, they have the wisdom acquired from making their own mistakes and finding out the best way of doing things in life. Why do we have to make fresh mistakes when we can learn from others?
A HIGHLY QUALIFIED FOOL!
One can have a high academic achievement in different disciplines in life and still be a fool. If you have all the knowledge on earth and all the academic accomplishment, but you are not seeking guidance and you do not know who your Creator is, if you do not show gratitude and thanks to Him, what greater foolishness can there be? You are leading yourself to hellfire for infinity.
The intellect and wise seeks the knowledge to lead him to the guidance of the Creator. He always tries to be good, to gain the pleasure of his Creator, and this is why he will gain the intellect with wisdom which has been gifted to him by the guidance of his own Creator which makes him beneficial to himself, others and leads others towards goodness.
By the time you reach this part of the article, you will discover that the fool destroys himself and all who accompany him or who come close to him. On the other hand, the intellect guided wise person always seeks guidance always strives to be good, is humble, with humility, good manner and always seeks goodness for himself and others by getting closer to the Creator the Almighty Allah SWT.
LIFE CHANGING ADVICE
After you read this article, analyse yourself and others, including your family, friends, colleagues and even the leaders of your town or country. The outcome will shock you.
If you implement the principles of this article in your life, it will save you a lot of hardship, agony, money, time and effort because it will protect you from the foolishness of yourself and others. It may even protect you against marrying a fool! This article will give you a new vision and perspective in life and how you deal with others.
Part of our life journey is to examine where we are, where we are heading, who our companions are and why, what we are going to achieve, how we can benefit and how our relationships can benefit each other. This is the strategy of the intellectual and the wise. On the other hand, the fool never questions himself: he is merely gratifying his own arrogance and desire, destroying himself and others.
“If you are forced to converse with someone who is unbearable, lend him your body and deny him your spirit; and travel away with your soul. Lend him a deaf ear and a blind eye until Allah makes a way for you to part from his company.” (Ibn Qayyim)
There are many verses in the Qur’an on this subject which you can research. May Allah SWT make us among those who have humbleness, humility and intellect, and we can say in the end “Rabbi zidni ilma”(My Lord, grant me (useful) knowledge).
